New BitTorrent client needed, suggestions please?

[Deozaan]

Hi folks,

I've been using and loving uTorrent for years, but ever since they got bought out by BitTorrent some time ago, it's gotten pretty bad.

What I loved about it was how tiny and resource-light it was, and the un-bloated nature of it all. But now it's just getting bloated with a bunch of crap I don't want or need, and the ads are pretty seedy.

Take these two ads, for example:

Great contenders for "Photoshop Disasters"

[attachimg=#] [attachimg=#]

There is so much wrong with those ads... I might expect to see ads like that on some sort of warez site. It hurts my trust in uTorrent.

So I'm here to ask the DC community: What BitTorrent client do you use, and why should I switch to it? Got any recommendations?

Thanks!

[panzer]

http://tixati.com/

http://qbittorrent.sourceforge.net/

[ewemoa]

I've had some luck with the following on occasion:

  http://aria2.sourceforge.net/

[vlastimil]

I use an older version of uTorrent and never upgrade. If you are already familiar with uTorrent, it may be the easiest way for you to just downgrade. In the older versions (maybe in the newer too?), there are ways to disable all intrusive "features".

[4wd]

^ +1 - I use uTorrent 1.82

FWIW, this is a list of the clients that a private tracker I'm on allows, anything else is at risk of being banned:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Vuze
Recommended version: 4.8.0.0   {Download Links: Windows  Mac  Linux}
Only approved versions: 2.5.0.4, 4.1.0.2, 4.1.0.4, 4.2.0.0, 4.2.0.2, 4.6.0.0, 4.6.0.2, 4.6.0.4, 4.6.0.5
Latest version tested: 4.8.0.0 (Result: Approved)
Notes: Azureus/Vuze configuration guide for Private Torrent Sites
Website: http://azureus.sourceforge.net/

WARNING! Vuze 4.5.0.0, 4.5.0.2, 4.5.0.4, 4.5.1.0,  4.5.1.1  are not approved and you will use it at your own risk, including if you get disabled for cheating in any way when you were not or loss of ratio. The Site is not responsible for how Vuze 4.5.x.x versions behaves.

BitTornado (aka Torrentflux)
Recommended version: 0.3.18
Only approved versions: 0.3.17, 0.3.18
Latest version tested: 0.3.18 (Result: Approved)
Notes: 0.3.18 is experimental but still approved
Website: http://www.bittornado.com/


Windows Clients

uTorrent

Recommended version: 1.8.2  {Download Link: Windows}
Only approved versions: 1.6.1, 1.7.7, 1.8.2
Latest version tested: 3.4.1.0 (Result: Banned)
Website: http://www.utorrent.com/

WARNING! uTorrent 1.8.3, 1.8.4, 1.8.5, 2.0.1, 2.0.2 , 2.0.3 , 2.0.4, 2.1.0.0, 2.2.0.0, 3.0, 3.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.2, 3.2.1 and 3.3 are not approved and you will use it at your own risk, including if you get disabled for cheating in any way when you were not or loss of ratio. The Site is not responsible for how uT 2.x or 3.x versions behaves.

Deluge
Only approved versions: 1.2.3,1.3.3, 1.3.5  {Download Link: Windows}
Latest version tested: 1.3.5 (Result: Approved)
Notes: n/a
Website: http://deluge-torrent.org/

WARNING! Deluge 1.2.2, 1.3.0, 1.3.1 & 1.3.2 are no longer approved and you will use it at your own risk, including if you get disabled for cheating in any way when you were not or loss of ratio. The Site is not responsible for how Deluge 1.3.x versions behaves.  
(reason being that live results have yielded very poor/bad announces)


Linux Clients

Transmission
Recommended version: All Production Versions released so far up to v2.7.3.0 (except for v1.8.1.x, 1.8.1.z, 1.8.1.0 which are banned) {Download Link: Linux}
Latest version tested: 2.73 (Result: Approved)
Note: beta's & daily updating variants (labelled with a X or Z at the end are excluded from approved use - eg 2.13z
Website: http://www.transmissionbt.com/

rTorrent/libTorrent
Recommended version: 0.8.9/0.12.9 / 0.8.6/0.12.6 (depending on synpantic library) Linux}
Only approved versions: 0.8.2/0.12.2, 0.8.4/0.12.4, 0.8.5/0.12.5, 0.8.6/0.12.6
Latest version tested: 0.8.9/0.12.9 (Result: Approved)
Notes: n/a
Website: http://libtorrent.rakshasa.no/

kTorrent
Recommended version: 3.3.4   {Download Link: Linux}
Only approved versions: 2.2.8, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.3.0, 3.3.4, 4.0.5, 4.1.0, 4.3.0
Latest version tested: 4.3.0 (Result: Approved)
Notes: n/a
Website: http://ktorrent.org/

Deluge
Only approved versions: 1.2.3,1.3.3, 1.3.5
Latest version tested: 1.3.5 (Result: Approved)
Notes: n/a
Website: http://deluge-torrent.org/

WARNING! Deluge 1.3.0 & 1.3.1 are no longer approved and you will use it at your own risk, including if you get disabled for cheating in any way when you were not or loss of ratio. The Site is not responsible for how Deluge 1.3.x versions behaves.  
(reason being that live results have yielded very poor/bad announces)

Reason most fail to be listed is that they do something wrong, eg. incorrect ratios reported, choking clients unnecessarily, etc.

[Tuxman]

People still use that torrent stuff? Why?

If I had to choose, I'd probably recommend Tixati. Reminds me of old WinMX.

[Deozaan]

Thanks! I'm not sure why I didn't think to just go to an older version of uTorrent! I've done that and things seem to be working fine. The only thing I miss is being able to access it using uTorrent Remote on my Android devices (or on the web). But that was something I rarely used, so it's worth giving up.

[mouser]

Can't tell you if this is any good from personal experience but I have heard good things about it: qBittorrent.

"The qBittorrent project aims to provide a Free Software alternative to µtorrent. Additionally, qBittorrent runs and provides the same features on all major platforms (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, OS/2, FreeBSD)."

http://www.qbittorrent.org/

[Stoic Joker]

As a rule I'd also been sticking with an older version of uTorrent like vlastimil  and 4wd, However...

In the interest of giving the devil his do...I took a peek at Tuxman's Tixati ... And I do believe I just switched. It handles .torrent and .magnet files/transfers (and some other stuff I've never heard of), doesn't require any Java or .NET crap, and has a fairly small portable option. With a simple straight forward UI ... This thing is a keeper.

[Attronarch]

Tixati is great.

[4wd]

Thanks! I'm not sure why I didn't think to just go to an older version of uTorrent! I've done that and things seem to be working fine. The only thing I miss is being able to access it using uTorrent Remote on my Android devices (or on the web).

Attached is the last stable version of webui.zip that worked with 1.82, it also includes the last stable version of miniui that worked with 1.82 - just copy it to the uTorrent directory and enable WebUI in the options.

Normal interface: http://<ip>:<port>/gui/index.html
Mini interface: http://<ip>:<port>/gui/mini/index.html

Mini is for small display device access, eg. phones.

A couple of things in the UI won't work, they need a higher version of uTorrent, (eg. up/down arrows for reordering torrents).

Stick a user/password in the options when you enable it, you can also use the http://<user>:<password>@<ip>:<port>/... format to access.

I use it because I don't want to go through a 3rd party site for any access to my computers.

[Innuendo]

I decided to break off my relationship with uTorrent about 6-8 months ago. I was using v1.85 which I believe is the last version before all the foolishness started, but the problem with staying with such an old version is you don't get access to any updates or bug fixes.

I looked at a lot of different clients before deciding to give qbTorrent a try. I was a little skeptical of the use of the Qt4 libraries as a lot of times that means weirdness on Win machines. However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. A nice, minimal UI with every command easily accessible & I don't miss uTorrent at all.

And although I've never had need to use it, there's even a web ui built in with DynDNS support.

I didn't see tixati on my travels when searching for a uTorrent replacement so I may look at it next, but there's no reason to look at anything beyond qbTorrent other than curiosity at this point.

[wetsmellydog]

I switched to qbittorrent from uTorrent and have not looked back. Simple, small footprint, no nonsense.  

Here are some good reviews of some clients on gizmo's freeware site

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-bittorrent-client.htm

Their review of qbittorrent

Pros:
Low and stable RAM and CPU with all the necessary features. Fastest performance on torrents. Development still seems to be very active and responsive to users. Clean install, no addons etc. Cross platform client.
Cons:
Support has improved, but could be better. Not that well known and not accepted at many private torrent sites (though the situation is improving).